A more positive internet for young people starts with real connection offline. In June, Pinterest LA welcomed 50 Youth Mental Health Corps (YMHC) members from 11 states for the Corps’ first Member Convening—a three-day gathering designed to center youth voice, build community and celebrate the power of near-peer mental health support across the country.
Across the day’s panels and every conversation in between, one message came through clearly: the work these young adults do changes what support can look like for young people. Fellows spoke about what it means to show up in classrooms, community centers and online spaces where young people are struggling—and to be the person who doesn’t just share a link, but offers real care. As YMHC member Dakota Yoon shared, the young people they serve don’t just see them as mentors—they see someone who genuinely cares. That kind of trust isn’t built overnight. It’s built by showing up, day after day, and proving you’ll be back tomorrow, even when things are hard.
The day at Pinterest LA was designed around that idea of care. Members started with a lululemon-led wellness session before moving into youth-led conversations on why youth leadership in mental health matters now, how to build sustainable careers in mental health and well-being and what healthy relationships with social media can look like. In between, they swapped stories from their own schools and states and realized how much they share with peers two time zones away.
Pinterest’s role was to help create the conditions for that connection: opening the LA studio as a convening space, collaborating on programming about social and digital well-being and supporting experiences like professional headshots and storytelling moments that invest in members as whole people. Our support for the YMHC is part of a broader commitment to building a more positive, inspiring internet—and to backing the young leaders who are already reimagining what youth mental health support can look like, one relationship at a time.
Thank you to the Youth Mental Health Corps, the Schultz Family Foundation, lululemon and our many partners whose investment makes this community—and this kind of gathering—possible. Learn more about the YMHC: https://www.youthmentalhealthcorps.org.
